Thursday, September 15, 2016

More on New Lbrarian of Congress Carla Hayden

Carla Hayden, the former chief executive of the Enoch Pratt Free Library system in Baltimore and a former president of the American Library Association, was sworn in as the 14th Librarian of Congress during a ceremony in Washington, D.C. yesterday.

Hayden is the first woman and the first African-American to serve as Librarian of Congress.

Here is some of the background and news coverage relating to her appointment:

The Library of Congress Gets a History-Making New Leader (The Atlantic, July 13, 2016): "Hayden will be the first Librarian of Congress appointed during the internet age— and the first librarian who seems to understand its power. Hayden is credited with modernizing the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore’s 22-branch city library system. (She also successfully kept the library open throughout the Freddie Gray protests last year.) As president of the American Library Association in 2003 and 2004, she frequently and publicly criticized Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, which allowed federal law enforcement to access public-library borrowing records. Hayden has sat on the National Museum and Library Services Board since 2010. She holds a doctorate degree in library sciences from the University of Chicago. Though these may sound like job requirements, Hayden is the first professional librarian to run the Library in more than 60 years."New librarian of Congress Carla Hayden taking over organization in turmoil (Baltimore Sun, September 14, 2016): "The Library of Congress is an organization in turmoil. The world's largest and most prestigious library has seen its reputation suffer after a withering report was released in March 2015 by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (...)
The report painted a picture of an institution in danger of losing touch with the public because it hasn't kept pace with modern methods of creating, sharing and preserving information. For instance, a huge backlog of materials moldering in warehouses has yet even to be cataloged — let alone digitized (...) Hayden's supporters say she has the backbone, political savvy and grit to pull off even a turn-around this daunting. This is the woman who assumed the top job at the Pratt in 1993 when the library's reputation was in a decline so steep many feared it wouldn't recover and restored it to a position of national prominence.
There's a reason, they say, that this year Fortune magazine ranked Hayden 25th among the world's 50 greatest leaders."Carla Hayden breaks new ground as 14th librarian of Congress (AP, September 14, 2016): "Hayden was sworn in Wednesday by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, with her hand on Abraham Lincoln's Bible. It's part of the library's collection and was used by Obama at his inauguration. 'As a descendant of people who were denied the right to read, to now have the opportunity to serve and lead the institution that is the national symbol of knowledge, is a historic moment,' Hayden said to applause from a crowd that included numerous members of Congress and actor and literacy advocate LeVar Burton, the longtime host of 'Reading Rainbow'."‘Rock star’ Baltimore librarian makes history at Library of Congress (Washington Post, September 14, 2016): "The usually quiet atrium of the Enoch Pratt Free Library came alive with laughter and cheers last month as hundreds gathered to say goodbye to a Baltimore official known to many as “Doc.”
It was an astonishing display of affection for the Pratt’s departing leader, Carla D. Hayden, who is being sworn in Wednesday as the new head of the Library of Congress. Many dismiss urban libraries as outdated and irrelevant, yet Baltimore residents and civic leaders were celebrating the Pratt and Hayden, who captained its resurgence."‘10 Questions With Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden (Time Magazine, September 26, 2016 issue): "What’s significant about your new appointment? Being the first female and the first African American means that the legacy of the 14 Librarians of Congress will include diversity–and also a female in a female-dominated profession."

Disclaimer

Neither the content nor the views contained in this blog represent the positions of my employer or of any association to which I belong. Any links to a news article, an academic study or another blog post should not be considered to indicate any form of endorsement on my part or on that of my institution. This is a purely personal blog for the purposes of sharing information about library issues and legal research.